Land Mines
by Sunlight through Leaves
Summary: Getting out of bed in the morning was always a challenge. Kakairu


A faint buzzing against his cheek interrupted a truly bizarre dream that he couldn't quite remember once awake. Iruka freed his hand from Kakashi's interlocked fingers and raised his head just enough to deactivate the watch before it woke his companion.

He typically adored moments like this: curled within Kakashi's arms – who knew that a scarce inch difference in height and a slightly smaller build would make him feel so safe wrapped in those arms – with a slight tickle on the back of his neck from where Kakashi had burrowed his face between Iruka's shoulder blades, and enough faint dawn light filtering through the window to just highlight the tips of silver hair sticking up over his cheek.

Any other morning and not even the threat of destruction and chaos, likely perpetrated on his classroom, could have convinced him to move.

Any other morning and he would have _finished_ his lesson plan the previous night, but sadly the source of the relaxing heat at his back was also the reason why he had to abandon the bed so early.

Not that he hadn't enjoyed himself.

Well, not that he hadn't enjoyed someone else, to be specific.

The minute the thought occurred, Iruka slapped himself mentally and sternly reminded himself to stop picking up Kakashi's dirty thoughts. Besides, he had more pressing matters to deal with, and they had little to do with the reminder of last night that was currently pressing against his lower back.

Which came back to why he hadn't set the main alarm, but only his watch and only a silent alert. Kakashi was incorrigible at the best of times and even more so in the morning, and damn it, he had work to do.

Now if only he could get safely out of bed. Kakashi's sleeping patterns had surprised him – when he'd agreed to share his bed with a jounin and a former ANBU, he'd fully expected that any movement on his part would result in a kunai to his throat and, if he was very unlucky, a ball of chakra aimed at his head. He'd barely slept the first few nights, truly afraid of what might happen if he let himself go, but too well aware of how hard opening up like this must have been for Kakashi to let the opportunity pass just because of a little sleep deprivation. Exhaustion finally overwhelmed fear, but he'd woken with a dramatic start the minute he realized he'd been fully asleep.

Kakashi had simply grumbled a complaint at Iruka's movement, pulled him back down and yanked the covers up over their shoulders.

The following morning, Iruka wondered aloud as to why his actions hadn't garnered a more ninja-like reaction.

Kakashi had brushed a strand of hair back over Iruka's ear, and the gesture reached much more deeply than the superficial touch. "I know your chakra. I _trust_ your chakra."

To this day, Kakashi'd slept through his snoring, bed swimming and cover stealing. When the night terrors reached him and he woke screaming his parent's names, Kakashi would wake with him, hands already reaching for him to pull him close and hold him until the shaking subsided.

That precedent suggested that he could safely move within the confines of the bed and that he could likely disentangle himself from Kakashi's arms and probably even roll him over, but leaving the bed was another problem altogether.

Like a predator honed by several million years of evolution, Kakashi would be loath to let his prey get away, even if he was currently drooling on his pillow.

On top of that, Iruka could feel the heavy lumps of Kakashi's ninken positioned strategically around them. He silently drew his knees into his chest to lift his feet past the ninken curled between him and the edge of the covers and freedom. Stretching his legs back out was a tentative process. Either he or Kakashi getting out of bed was generally the signal to the ninken for breakfast. If he nudged the one that was currently blocking his escape, they would all be awake in an instant, and Kakashi would be quick to follow.

One foot and then the other slid past the ninken uneventfully, and he inched out from between Kakashi's arms and squirmed over the edge of the bed. The bare floor was ice cold, and he jammed the back of his hand against his mouth to muffle the swift intake of breath.

The hallway between the bedroom and living room stretched impossibly long in front of him. The floorboard straight ahead was safe, but then he had to step on the second one to the left to keep from squeaking, and then the adjacent one to the right, and so forth. His parents had owned the flat before him, and he had kept his old room when they had passed away, too respectful to take their larger bedroom. Given the miscreant he had been as a youth, it came as no surprise that he had vast experience sneaking from this room.

He crossed the threshold to the hall, but didn't dare turn a light on. He may have been above average in stealth in his rank, particularly on home turf, but when pitted against a jounin, he needed all of the advantages he could get.

If Kakashi hadn't been asleep or so trusting, Iruka never would have stood a chance. He bit his lip. It wasn't that he was taking advantage of Kakashi's trust, it's just that he was going to get fired if he wasn't prepared, and he'd told himself that he'd finish up last night after Kakashi'd finished with him, but the bed was so warm and comfortable, and he'd been very tired.

A flashback of exactly why he'd been so tired played out on the inside of his skull, and Iruka stepped forward quickly to regain his balance. Something soft and furry gave under his foot, and an almost indignant squeak broke the secure silence.

"Shit." He didn't swear often, but this was one of those times when it was warranted. He turned back to the door and watched every set of silhouetted ears perk up.

Along with their sense of hearing and smell, dogs had better night vision than humans, and their senses were telling them that 1) someone was playing with their toys and 2) Iruka was _not _in the bedroom, and there was a vaguely Iruka-shaped shadow in the hall.

With their toy.

The stampede almost swept Iruka's legs out from under him, and if the movement on the bed didn't wake Kakashi, then the sound of hundred-something pound Bull hitting the floor after a flying leap certainly did. It even rattled the pictures on the wall.

Kakashi moved faster than Iruka could possibly follow. The demonstration of shinobi prowess would have been slightly more impressive had Kakashi not been wearing plaid flannel sleep pants with black shuriken outlines – a gift from his team to keep him from sleeping naked, they were actually a fairly good match for his blanket, if his blanket had been decorated in a brown and orange plaid that made Iruka want to yak on the carpet – and hadn't yawned hugely as he draped his arms around Iruka's shoulders. "Whatcha doin'?" The words were more than a little slurred.

Over the few months they'd been together, Iruka'd learned that given the right motivation, Kakashi could wake and be intelligent immediately, but when he was safe at home like this, he tended to enjoy the fuzzy feeling of still being partially asleep. However, there was a certain salacious quality to the tone that suggested that the drawl was more motivated by lower regions of his anatomy than his still-sleeping brain.

"I've got some work to do. It's still early, why don't you go back and get some sleep?" Iruka threw as much encouragement behind his words as he could manage along with a heavy dose of hope, faint as it was.

"Maaa, where's the fun in that?" A yawn broke through Kakashi's attempt at a suggestive expression. "You're probably right."

"I know I'm right."

"Must be getting old." He grumbled, eyed the open door to the bedroom, and turned a pout in Iruka's direction. "But the bed's so cold and lonely without you."

Had Iruka heard it second hand, he would never have believed that Hatake Kakashi even understood the concept of whining, but it was not the first time that the real Kakashi - the one behind all the masks, posturing and bravado - had surprised him. It likely wouldn't be the last. "If I go back and join you, the ninken will either devour us or starve." He eyed the ninken, who looked up in hopeful expectation, tails wagging frantically. He shook his head, amazed at the single-mindedness – they'd completely forgotten their toy at the prospect of being fed. "Not to mention that I will be fired, probably put on graveyard shifts at the mission desk or the hospital, and then you'll have to spend every night alone." He added as an afterthought. Returning to bed with Kakashi sounded so very appealing that he'd almost forgotten why he was out here in the first place.

They stared at each other, both too tired to work up an argument one way or the other. Iruka could practically see Kakashi's mind working, and a small voice in the back of his mind cheered him on, hoping for some legitimate excuse to abandon his work and return to Kakashi's arms. For better or for worse, no suggestions came.

In the end, Kakashi sprawled across the length of the couch, his head pillowed on Iruka's thigh while Iruka shuffled through his papers.

Iruka twined his fingers idly through Kakashi's hair as he read over his planned lecture. Anyone else would have found the whole situation odd, and so would he if it hadn't happened – he rolled his eyes skyward, mentally counting – upwards of fifteen times before. The majority had resulted in an incomplete lesson plan, but a very energetic morning romp. The last couple of times, Iruka had succeeded in evading Kakashi, and despite Kakashi's insistence that he couldn't possibly sleep in that bed without Iruka, he'd been practically comatose right up until the moment Iruka'd woken him. It really had almost become a game.

_A…game?_

Iruka's head shot up, and he met Pakkun's unwavering gaze. The ninken's toys had not been in the hallway when he'd gone to bed. It wasn't just that he'd been distracted by Kakashi, because he'd come back out to the living room with the vague idea of doing work only to return to bed seconds later when he realized that he couldn't concentrate. The toys had been somewhere else, which meant that the ninken had moved them last night. "Oh, so you're on his team?"

"It's not like you don't enjoy it. We can hear you, you know." Pakkun paused. "In fact, I think the whole village can probably hear you."

Heat rushed across his face, and he buried himself in his work, desperately hoping to forget that Kakashi's ninken were actively encouraging his sex life. A memory muscled its way past the embarrassment. He'd seen Kakashi having an in depth conversation with the ninken yesterday in a tone that, in retrospect, sounded an awful lot like instructions.

He'd even given them treats.

Embarrassment turned to righteous outrage. The papers in his hand crinkled in his suddenly clenched fist, and he hastily put them aside before he destroyed all of his hard work and turned his ire towards the source. If his glare had carried any sort of power, the back of Kakashi's neck would have blistered by now.

Kakashi turned and arched an eyebrow at him. "Maaa, it's not like _I_ don't enjoy it, either."

Iruka took a deep breath, visibly pulling himself back under control. Killing Kakashi right now would only land him in a boatload of paperwork and the awkward situation of explaining to Tsunade why he had saw fit to murder one of the village's best assets. Not to mention all of the other side benefits attached to having Kakashi in his life. Though he'd be loathe to admit it out loud, they were right. It wasn't as if he didn't enjoy it.

Besides, he liked games, and he very rarely lost.

OOOOOOOOO

Just a quick one-shot inspired by the number of times I've woken my dog up by accidentally treading on one of his squeaky toys. Gotta love the ninken. Enjoy!

Special thanks to Kiterie for beta-ing!


End file.
